Highly Transparent, Deformable, and Multifunctional AgPdCu/ITO/PTFE Hybrid Films for Self‐Cleaning, Flexible, and Energy‐Saving Smart Windows

Abstract

Rollable, bendable, twistable, and foldable polymer–oxide–metal multistacked hybrid films are demonstrated, which simultaneously act as multifunctional electrodes in flexible polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) windows and flexible and transparent thin‐film heaters (TFHs) for self‐cleanable and flexible smart windows. By continuous sputtering of a thin polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)–indium tin oxide (ITO)–AgPdCu (APC) multilayer on a colorless polyimide substrate, transparent and multifunctional films are fabricated with a low sheet resistance of 7 Ω □−1, high optical transmittance of 83% at a wavelength of 550 nm, low transmittance in the infrared region, and a high contact angle of 109°. Based on inner/outer bending, rolling, twisting, and folding tests, the outstanding flexibility of these PTFE/ITO/APC multistacked films is demonstrated. The flexible PDLC and flexible TFHs with PTFE/ITO/APC multistacked electrodes show a controllable transmittance range between the on and off states that is nearly 40%, and a high saturation temperature of 111 °C is observed at a low applied voltage of 4 V. The multifunctional properties of the flexible PDLC and TFHs fabricated on PTFE/ITO/APC hybrid films indicate that the polymer–oxide–metal hybrid film is a versatile transparent electrode that can be used for flexible, smart, and energy‐saving windows.

Thermally-evaporated C60/Ag/C60 multilayer electrodes for semi-transparent perovskite photovoltaics and thin film heaters

“…Figure 2(a ) and (b) exhibit the Hall measurement results of the CAC films as the thickness of the Ag layer increased (10, 12, 14, 16, 18 nm) with a constant symmetric C 60 thickness of 45 nm. As discussed in our previous work [ 1 , 30 – 33 ], the optical transparency and electrical conductivity of the DMD layers considerably depend on the thickness of the multiple thin layers, particularly the metal interlayer. Therefore, the reported metal interlayer thickness for the optimized DMD electrode ranged from 8 to 14 nm [ 29 , 34 – 37 ].…”

Study of Brush-Painted Ag Nanowire Network on Flexible Invar Metal Substrate for Curved Thin Film Heater

“…At the saturation temperature, the rate of temperature change over time is zero (dT (t)/dt = 0). Therefore, Equation (2) can be rewritten as shown below [42]:…”

Application of New Energy Thermochromic Composite Thermosensitive Materials of Smart Windows in Recent Years

“…To investigate the stacking sequence effect of the multilayer, PTFE (40 nm)/ITO (35 nm)/APC (10 nm)/CPI and ITO (35 nm)/APC (10 nm)/bottom PTFE (40 nm)/CPI samples were prepared, as shown in Figure 11 c–e [ 112 ]. Considering the large-area smart windows used in buildings and automobiles, we adopted a mature sputtering method, using PTFE polymer targets, APC metal targets and ITO ceramic targets at room temperature.…”